Aaron's Dream Team

Hershey's Kisses 300 Post Race Report

The 2004 racing season began this past weekend with NASCAR Speedweeks at the Daytona International Speedway. Michael Waltrip brought a brand new Aaron's Dream Machine to the track in hopes of winning Saturday's Hershey's Kisses 300 Busch Series race and beginning the year at the top of the Championship points standings.

Everything started well on Thursday. The team did an excellent job getting the Dream Machine through NASCAR's technical inspection line. The “tech line” scrutinizes every aspect of the racecar to help keep parity among the competitors, and the officials in Daytona were exceptionally picky.

The No. 99 was fast in Thursday's practices with solid top-ten speeds and Waltrip qualified 11 th on Friday morning. However there was trouble during the first practice when the right-rear tire came apart and the Dream Machine went spinning into the wall in turn four. The damage to the right side of the car was extensive and the team immediately brought out the back-up car.

Weather was the issue Saturday morning at the track. A heavy fog hung over the track all morning and with it brought cold, wind and rain. The rain had stopped a couple of hours before the race so everyone was set to go for the 12:30 PM start.

Michael had to start at the back of the pack because he was using the backup car, but moved up quickly in the first 12 laps to 23 rd . Then the rain came and NASCAR postponed the race until Monday morning.

Ten laps into the restart Monday, Waltrip was hit when the No. 6 car spun and there was damage to the right side of the car. Sheet metal was rubbing the right rear tire and Michael took it easy the next few laps trying not to cut the tire completely. Two rounds of pit stops were needed to repair the damage and the Dream Machine restarted at the back of pack again. Unfortunately, Waltrip lost the draft from the lead cars on the restart and found himself running alone. Eventually Michael found a drafting partner and the two cars made up some of the lost time to the leaders, but it was not enough.

The Dream Machine finished 19 th one lap down from the winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

The next race for the Aaron's Dream Machine will be Saturday, February 21 at the North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, NC, and will be broadcast live on FX television and MRN radio at 1:00 PM.

Much to the surprise of everyone at Aaron's, the back-up car still had the Terminator 3 paint scheme used to promote the movie last July. As it turned out, Michael had put that car on display at the NASCAR Technical Institute for educational purposes, and the team did not have time to get it into the paint booth once it was finally returned. But that was OK because it was a fast racecar at the last race in Daytona where Michael finished second.